How do you calculate it?

[Nemesis]

How do you calculate the efficiency in advance? (without tools)
What is your formula or calculation?

[Wolfgang]

What exactly do you mean with efficiency? Do you mean the rate or something else?

[kLuns]

Start with the endproduct and see how it's made.
Then calculate demand of the input of the machine.
Keep calculating the demand of all the machines and you figure out your entire production line.

[Veeshan]

I alt tab out to a spreadsheet. The calculator is spectacular but I can never remember twelve totals etc.

[DaBa]

What "formulas"? You just do basic math? Let's say you're mining 120 iron per minute, a smelter uses 30 iron per minute, so you need 4 smelters to use it all up. What else could you mean?

[GI Ged]

If you type the N-key - you can calculate with it. Example: 4,5 * 6 than it shows you the result. I didnt know that, but Snutt used it in the last video :)

[tdb]

I created a Jupyter notebook where I can basically say "I want to make 13 computers per minute using the caterium computer alt recipe", and then it tells me I need 91/min circuit boards, 364/min quickwire and 156/min rubber. Then I can say "ok, I want to make the circuit boards and quickwire in this factory too" and it'll add those to the calculation. It's similar in purpose to the production planner on satisfactory-calculator.com, but it contains some bespoke logic for my specific factory layouts to make it easier for me to build the thing. I have two monitors and when I play I usually have that and the wiki open on the other one.

Dunno if this counts as "without tools", but I did make the tool myself so I had to know how to perform all the calculations. The core formula is real simple though, you take the number of items you want to produce per minute, divide by the output rate of the recipe and multiply by the input rates to get how many items you need to supply. Repeat for every item in the production chain until you arrive at items which are imported from elsewhere.

[Veeshan]

Originally posted by DaBa:

What "formulas"? You just do basic math? Let's say you're mining 120 iron per minute, a smelter uses 30 iron per minute, so you need 4 smelters to use it all up. What else could you mean?

All the other stuff that's needed. When inputs come out to fractions of outputs or vice versa, when attempting to calculate several steps below current processing level, that kinda thing. It's not really about formulas per se, but about having the computer memorize 12 different numbers instead of you doing it. Remember the average human short term memory capacity is 7 numbers, but that's *capacity.* Meaning many of us rarely are able to do that. And some of us never even bother cause there's a spreadsheet on my desktop anyway.

[tdb]

Fractions are not a problem math-wise, unless maybe you're trying to calculate everything in your head. But as you say, there's a lot of numbers to keep track of, so writing them down is basically mandatory for all but the simplest of productions. Might as well write them in a spreadsheet and have the computer do the calculations too.

[mackster]

IMO dont overthink it. Yes, 100% efficiency is great, but with some recipes, this can be a nightmare to get exact - like you need 12.5 per minute of this plus 46 per minute of that. Trying to use combiner/splitter logic can be mind blowing for those not easily split in to two or three outputs.

Just have enough, more rather than less, of each material to make whatever you need. Sink the overflow (using a smart splitter) if needed or just feed it back to a source container.

Oh and work backwards - yes the later recipes that isn't a constructor are going to need you to use a pen and paper to write this down.

Start here:

Step 1) Final Product requirements - xx per minute required
Step 2) For final product, what materials are required?
Step 3) For final product, how many of the materials per minute are required to get you your required final product per minute?
Step 4) Go back band repeat steps 1-3 for each of your materials required for the final product, where the required materials become the final product for that part of the chain. Repeat until you have all materials made and only those left which come out of a node (i.e. requires no further processing)

I think that would be the simplest way I could think of saying what the process is. Apart from stating again if something only needs 59 items to be 100%, dont worry about feeding it 60, 120 or even 240. The nodes are endless supply so, if not needed, just pipe it all in and sink the overflow and at least get some tickets to buy at the shop :)

[The Big Brzezinski]

How do I calculate efficiency? By how little time and effort I have to spend on boring things. I want to spend time planning out and building factories and infrastructure. I don't want to have to hand craft parts, dismantle machinery, or fend off pests. If I can go grab all the parts and supplies I need from catchment boxes and start on my new project, that's efficient. If I'm pulling bags of concrete from the conveyors of an encased steel beam line, it means I royally screwed up somewhere.